


Tiny Place in a Big Universe

by NoBrandHero



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Sburb Session, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Homestuck Shipping World Cup 2014, Pesterlog, World Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-27
Updated: 2014-07-27
Packaged: 2018-02-10 14:39:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2028816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoBrandHero/pseuds/NoBrandHero
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The problem with online dating, Jade finds, is that her girlfriend is a boring party pooper who doesn't want to visit or travel with her anywhere.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tiny Place in a Big Universe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bananly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bananly/gifts).



> HSWC Bonus Round 5: Quotes
> 
> "["It's a big universe. To stay in one tiny place is doing a disservice to yourself." -Janelle Monae](http://hs-worldcup.dreamwidth.org/22187.html?thread=6605995#cmt6605995)"

\-- gardenGnostic [GG] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] \--

GG: did you get my email? :D  
TT: I don't believe so? I already checked this morning, but I'll make sure it didn't fall into the spambox.  
TT: Ah.  
TT: Or...  
TT: Were you referring to this new email sitting in my inbox that was sent two minutes ago?  
GG: yes that one!  
GG: so what do you think???  
TT: I'm reading it now.  
GG: ok!  
TT: Hm.  
GG: hmmmmm?  
TT: Thank you for the offer but I'll have to decline.  
GG: it does not have to be next month! i am very flexible in my schedule  
TT: A trip like that is just not feasible for me, regardless of the when.  
GG: do you need help paying for the plane tickets??  
TT: Yes, Jade, my family is destitute. Destitute, I tell you, with our mansion in the woods. A few hundred dollars on airfare isn't a drop in the bucket at all in the grand scheme of our six-, sometimes seven-digit budget.  
TT: How will we ever afford food if we waste our precious resources on a plane ticket?  
GG: i knoooooow i know youre rich too  
GG: but why else would anyone be stubborn about not visiting??  
GG: my islands great! we can go hiking and swimming and camp out under the stars and i can show you aaaall around :D  
TT: I just don't care for travel. I'm sorry.  
GG: well but it is hardly like travel at all  
GG: its just visiting me!  
TT: Jade, I said no.  
TT: Why are you being so pushy about this?  
GG: :(  
GG: i just want my girlfriend to see where i grew up  
TT: ...Maybe some other time in the future.  
TT: Right now I have to concentrate on my work, more specifically upkeeping a steady and reliable schedule so that I'm getting hours of writing practice in every day.  
TT: On top of that, we both have college apps coming up.  
GG: i guess...  
GG: i think we can afford to take some time off to be silly together though  
GG: just a little  
TT: That's what we do on Pesterchum all the time, isn't it?  
TT: You know I wouldn't trade our chats for the world.  
GG: :)  
GG: id like it a lot if we could have them irl too though  
TT: Well that is rather the end goal of most relationships, you know...  
TT: Until then, can we make do with text and the occasional phone call?  
GG: i suppose this means its pointless for me to ask you to join me on my trip this september?  
TT: Oh, lord. Aren't you going to be gone a month?  
GG: two months, if i get to visit all the countries i hope to!  
TT: I really just can't afford to throw my schedule into such chaos. I'm sorry.  
GG: ok...  
GG: maybe next time?  
GG: i think youd enjoy it more than you think! if you gave it a chance!  
TT: I'll... consider it, Jade. But if I'm in the middle of writing a novel, I have every excuse to decline again. All right?  
GG: okaaaay  
GG: i will still love you even if you stay home all the time  
TT: Well, if it makes you feel better, someday I'll be staying home with you and you probably won't mind that I don't plan to go anywhere then.  
GG: yeah probably :D

***

\-- tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering gardenGnostic [GG] \--

TT: Well, well. I wasn't sure I'd see you online again anytime soon, if the last week has been any indication.  
GG: hehe sorry! ive been so busy here that i pass out as soon as i get back to the hostel!  
GG: today im taking it easy so i have a whole evening to catch up with friends and email  
GG: and you <3  
TT: <3  
TT: I take it you're enjoying Kyoto?  
GG: yeah its great!!!  
GG: theres this shrine on a mountain that i spent ALL DAY hiking around it was soooo pretty  
GG: i found a few cats along the trail  
GG: so you would have liked it too! :D  
TT: Is that a "hint, hint" I hear?  
GG: maaaaaybe  
GG: i am just trying to sell you on my next trip  
GG: i would even be willing to revisit places if youd like to see anything ive told you about! be your tour guide :D  
TT: I really think you're overestimating my quality as a traveling companion.  
TT: I will be miserable and spend all my time huddled in the corner of the hotel room, trying to get all the writing down that I can manage in my jetlagged state.  
TT: When you manage to drag me out to the museums, I'll be so racked with guilt over a wavering word count that neither of us will enjoy ourselves.  
GG: but its good for a writer to be well traveled!  
GG: you learn all kinds of things about people and culture  
GG: you can consider it research?  
TT: But I'm not writing about London, or Rio, or Seoul, or wherever else you're planning to visit next.  
TT: If I need to do any people-watching, I am a day-trip away from New York City and Boston.  
TT: In the meanwhile, I'd rather spend my time ACTUALLY writing, rather than planning or researching what to write.  
GG: oh rose people in new england are SO DIFFERENT from everywhere else though!  
GG: youd still find new things to write about that you never would have thought of in your little forest house!  
GG: but its ok if you need to take baby steps with your writing career before youre ready to do international research  
GG: i just miss you when i cant sign online much  
TT: I can't say I don't feel the same, seeing your username in an offline state so often these days.  
TT: Are you heading home after Japan?  
GG: i have one more stop first!!  
TT: Oh? Where is that?  
GG: its  
GG: aaa  
GG: secret! :D  
GG: i will let you know when im there though  
GG: and show you lots of pictures!  
TT: You'll be online this time?  
GG: well even if im not online i will be sure to take the time to stay in contact with you <3  
TT: You won't be losing precious minutes that could be used on touristing?  
GG: dont care :) ill make time for you!  
TT: Then I look forward to it.

***

The Lalonde household's doorbell rarely saw any use. Nine times out of ten, the only times it rang was for a package delivery. (The tenth time tended to be Rose's mom after she forgot her keys and locked herself out of the house.) As such, Rose was hesitant to sprint to answer the door when she heard the doorbell one afternoon while her mother was out.

She assumed her mother must have ordered another wizard statue and hadn't warned Rose to be on the lookout for UPS. Except UPS drivers didn't ring the doorbell five times in ten seconds. Rose kept her sturdiest knitting needles by her side as she crept to the front door, slowly peeking through the curtains to catch a glimpse of the trespasser.

Her eyes went wide and she dropped her needles on the end table before wrenching the door open. Jade stood on the porch with a wide smile, a backpack and a suitcase by her side.

"Hi Rose!" she said, the words barely out of her mouth before Rose pulled her into a hug, followed shortly by a kiss.

"I guess this explains the secrecy," Rose mumbled into Jade's shoulder afterwards. "I wish you'd given me a chance to clean up though."

"Nooo, I like seeing how you normally live!" Jade said, her arms wrapped tight around Rose's waist as she rocked her back and forth. "And I wanted to give you a nice surprise!"

"Well you managed both the nice and the surprise, I'll give you that." Rose pulled back and smiled at Jade, studying her. Jade's hair and clothes were disheveled and she looked as if a shower would suit her quite well just then, but she was lovely just by virtue of being present in-person, despite the mess. "Did you come straight here from your flight?"

"Uh-huh, it took over half a day from Narita to your doorstep." Jade picked up her bags. "C'mooon, let's hang out before the jetlag hits!"

Rose gave Jade a quick tour of the house, making certain to point out the bathrooms, before they settled crosslegged on her bed with bottles of sparkling water. Jade made short work of her drink and Rose offered her the second bottle as Jade booted up her laptop.

Jade turned the laptop screen towards Rose and Rose leaned in against Jade's shoulder, wrapping an arm around her waist. She'd assumed Jade would be asking for a Wi-fi password, but instead she opened a folder called "vacation photos!!! :D"

"See?" Jade said as she opened a photo of Mt. Fuji. "I told you I took lots of pictures."

"Did you climb Fuji?" Rose asked.

Jade laughed. "No, maybe next time! I took that picture from a stop on the bullet train. I guess we're chronologically going backwards!" She clicked on the arrow button, switching to a new photo of a blurred landscape. "I tried taking photos on the train too, but it didn't go so well."

Rose smiled. "So I see."

Jade showed her a wide assortment of photos, explaining where she was and what she was doing at the time. The photos weren't always the most professionally shot angles Rose had ever seen, but the stories Jade told with them were more than enough to bring each town, shrine, and mountain to life.

There weren't many urban pictures, even of Kyoto, which made a random photo of the inside of a bookstore stand out all the more. When Rose gave her an odd look, Jade said, "I took that one for you. I thought you'd like to see what bookstores look like across the globe!"

Rose laughed. "Well, I assumed they wouldn't be all _that_ different from the average Barnes  & Noble aside from the language change, but thank you for the thought."

Jade nodded. "Someday, though, I'm going to find your books on those shelves! And I am going to take a photo every time I do and start a collection documenting Rose's international fame!"

Rose blushed and glanced away. "I wouldn't wait for my work to be successful enough to warrant translations anytime soon. I've already amassed a small pile of rejection letters."

"Yeah, but it'll happen eventually if you keep trying!" Jade beamed at her.

The blush didn't go away, but Rose leaned in to kiss Jade's cheek. "Thank you." She wrapped both arms around her and they leaned against each other as Jade continued showing off her adventures in Japan, eventually moving on to photos from Korea.

Rose frowned at another shot of a gorgeous landscape. "Why are there no photos with you in them?"

"Oh, I didn't want to be a bother and ask someone to hold my camera for me. Besides, I know I was there! I don't really need a visual reminder." Jade grinned. "My grandpa and I take photos together when we travel, though. Pictures like those are worth the hassle."

Rose was quiet for a few moments as Jade showed her another dozen photos, the only people within them locals and fellow tourists. She murmured, "Maybe I'll come along sometime, so we can take photos together. If I have enough warning."

Jade's face lit up and she tackled Rose in a hug so tight that they almost smacked their heads against the headboard. They made sure to prop the pillows up extra high after that, cuddling together as the laptop went forgotten on the side of the mattress.

Jade passed out long before supper as jetlag caught up with her, as predicted. Rose just sighed and tucked her in, settling next to her to share warmth. She moved the laptop over so she could browse through the rest of the photos on her own and wonder what it was like to be present in each location.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to leave the house, if it was with someone who included a contagious enthusiasm for travel like Jade. Just sometimes.


End file.
